The family of Juliana Valdez is seeking $10 million in damages after her right leg became trapped in the Macy’s Westfield Garden State Plaza, NJ, escalator. Ms. Valdez lost two toes and has had at least 13 operations to save her foot. The family hired a mechanical inspections expert witness who found that that a support frame on the escalator was broken.

Mechanical inspection experts are retained after an accident or product failure to inspect machinery and write reports or testify in litigation and insurance claims. The inspection found a gap between the escalator steps and also that the escalator was not properly lubricated.